Rubberized material



' sept. 26, 193s.

H RHAERTEL RUBBERI ZED MATERIAL Filed March 20, 1931 Patented Sept. 26, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT 'OFFICE RUBBERIZED MATERIAL Hans Richard Haertel, Wrentham, Mass.

Application March 20, 1931. Serial No. 524,197

6 Claims. (Q1. 154-46) '10 while the scope of the Vinvention will be more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:- Fig. 1 is a plan, with parts broken away, of one form of material constructed according to the j invention, the representation of the material being more or less idealistic and on amuch enlarged scale; and

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1. The form of the invention illustrated com- 20 prises'closely adjacent textile sheets 1 and 3 united by a strongly adhering thin layer 5 of cured rubber compound, the textile sheets having the warp threads 7 and weft threads 9, these threads as shown being deeply embedded in the rubber layer so as to be locked thereto, but without the rubber compound extending through the meshes 11 of the textile, which if it did would give the outer surface of the sheets a characteristic appearance and feel which would be highly 0 objectionable if the material is to be employed as automobile top material or in other situations where it is desired to have the textile exhibit .those characteristics in respect to appearance and feel possessed by the textile in its original condition. It will be understood, however, that in situations where these conditions are irnmaterial or undesirable the rubber compound may extend entirely through the meshes of the textile. y

It will be observed, however, that as shown the improved material at each side has the characteristics of the original textile sheets, and that the latter are subjected to alternate wetting and drying when exposed to the weather, although the material itself is waterproof in the sense that the rubber layer will prevent water being conducted from one side of the material to the other. According to the present invention, the rubber compound contains fibrous material acting to render it non-resilient and thus secure a product which is substantially non-stretchable, rendering it suitable for use for belts, straps, and other uses where the material is subjected to stretching. Because of the non-resilient character of the rubber layer, the material constructed as shown is also resistant to water shrinking when exposed to the weather. The standard test for water shrinking consists in sponging the material and drying it at room temperature three times in twenty-four hours, and noting the shrinkage. l0 When the textile sheets are, for example, teal cloth,-a mackintosh cloth commonly employed for tops of automobiles, and the material is fabricated according to prior processes, in some cases the water shrinking may be as much as 6%, al- 65V though it is highly desirable that a material with no shrinkage be. employed, and any shrinkage is highly objectionable in the sense that if allowance is made for shrinkage in fabricating an automobile top an unsightly appearance is produced in the top as originally fabricated, and if no allowance is made for shrinkage, the latter, when it occurs, causes distortion of the top, and, in extreme cases of shrinkage, breakage of the bows of the top framework.

According to the above aspect of the present invention a product is produced in which water shrinking is practicallyA eliminated, thus avoiding the objections to the product prepared according to prior methods. The improved product is characterized by the employment of a rubber layer compound to which the textile sheetsA strongly adhere, the rubber layer being incompressible in the plane thereof when the textile sheets are subjected to water shrinking, thus avoiding water shrinking of the product.

In many instances it may be desirable to eliminate all possibility of water shrinking, or to reduce shrinkage to a minimum, by subjecting the product, prior to use, to Water and heat for subjecting the textile sheets to a shrinkage in excess of that caused by water shrinking, and thus place the rubber layer under initial compression in the plane thereof. It will be understood that economic considerations may not de- 'mand that suicient fibrous material bek'incor- Vor mineral fiber such as asbestos and mineral wool.

As an example of the rubber'fcompound, but "11 without limitation thereto, I` may employ the following:-

Pounds Pure rubber milled with anti-oxidant and accelerator 4 Pure rubber 33 Cumar (mixture of cumarone and indene resins) or equivalent amount of ester resin Gas black (or other amount of suitable color) 1.5

After the above material/ is milled to produce a plastic mass, a layer of rubber say about 7 ounces vper square yard may be applied to one vthe meshes of the textile.

side of each textile sheet by use of hot calender rolls, the consistency of the rubber and the pres- `sure exerted by the rolls being coordinated to force the threads of the textile into the rubber layer to a greater extent than has been former practice, but when desired, as explained above, without 'causing the rubber to extend through After the rubber is applied to the two sheets they may be doubled, that is to say, their rubberized sides may be placed in contact and the sheets pressed together, as by passing them between rolls, to cause their rubber surfaces to adhere. After the doubling operation the sheets may be cured. After curing, the material may be tentered for correcting slight inequalities in the width of the material and to bring the threads into parallel relation'. While being tentered the material, as explained above, may be subjected to shrinkage by exposing it to the action of water and heat, as for example exposing it to a spray of wet steam or a spray of water and steam.

The invention is not limited to the employment of any particular textile, but as an example of a suitable textile for use in preparing a product for fabricating automobile tops applicant has used a plain weave teal cloth weighing 5.4 lbs. per square yard having52 two-ply yarn warp threads per inch and 38 single-ply yarn weft threads per inch. This material after fabricationof the product, if desired, may be treated to render it somewhat water repellent, as for example, treating it with a metal soap such as aluminum palminate, without materially changing its appearance or feel.

From the aspect of the invention that it produces a non-stretchable product, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the use of textiles subject to water shrinking, but that other sheet material known to the art such as soft unsized paper, flannel, felt, and the like impregnated with rubber dispersions may be united, say by rubber cement, or by calendering as above described, by the fiber containing rubber compound to produce a non-stretchable material.

It will be understood that wide deviations may be made from the forms of the invention above described without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. Flexible material resisting water shrinking comprising two closely adjacent relatively closely Woven exposed textile sheets which are characterized by the property of Water shrinking and are joined by a strongly adhering layer of rubber compound lying wholly at one side of the threads of said fabric, which compound has fibrous material distributed therethrough acting to render it incompressible in the plane thereof for resisting water shrinking of said material.

2. Flexible material resisting water shrinking comprising two closely adjacent relatively closely woven exposed textile sheets which are characterized by the property of water shrinking and are joined by a strongly adhering layer of rubber compound lying wholly at'one side of the threads of said fabric, which compound has fibrous material distributed therethrough acting to render it incompressible in the plane thereof for resisting water shrinking of said material, said compound being confined to one side of each sheet.

3. Flexible material resisting water shrinking comprising two closely adjacent relatively closely woven exposed textile sheets which are characterized by the property of water shrinking and are joined by a strongly adhering layer of rubber compound, which latter has fibrous material distributed therethrough acting to render it ir.- compressible in the plane thereof for resisting Water shrinking of said material, the threads of said sheets being embedded in said compound for a part of their thickness only without the compound extending through the meshes of said sheets.

4. Flexible material resisting water shrinking comprising two closely adjacent relatively closely woven exposed textile sheets which are characterized by the property of water shrinking and are joined by a strongly adhering layer of rubber compound containing fib'rous material acting to render it non-resilient, said layer of rubber compound lying wholly at one side of the threads of said fabric, said sheets being under tension in the plane thereof.

5. Flexible material resisting water shrinking comprising two closely adjacent relatively closely woven exposed textile sheets which are characterized by the property of water shrinking and are joined by a strongly adhering layer of rubber compound containing fibrous material acting to render it non-resilient, said layer of rubber compound lying wholly at one side of the threads -of said fabric, said sheets being under tension in the plane thereof and the threads thereof being embedded in said compound. f

6. Flexible material resisting water shrinking comprising two closely adjacent relatively closely woven-exposed textile sheets which are characterized by the property of w'ater shrinking and are joined by av strongly adhering layer of rubber compound containing fibrous material acting to render it non-resilient, said sheets being under tension in the plane thereof and the threads thereof being embedded in said compound for a part of their thickness only without the compound extending through the meshes of said sheets.

HANS RICHARD HAERTEL. 

